


Winchester Pteranodon Ranch

by meowmeowsamurai



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, M/M, Pteranodon Breeders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 16:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30007656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meowmeowsamurai/pseuds/meowmeowsamurai
Summary: Cas is a journalist for The American Pterosaur Breeders Association Journal. He’s sent to Kansas with a photographer, Meg, to spend some time with Dean and Sam to produce a piece on the brothers, who are successful pteranodon breeders, for the journal’s quarterly publication. Unfortunately, Dean and Cas get off on the wrong foot and their relationship is initially rocky.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Dean/Cas Reverse Bang 2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am so honored to have been able to work on this fic with Misti. She came up with the awesome concept of Sam and Dean as Pteranodon breeders. As a dinosaur enthusiast myself, I was so excited when I got assigned to work on this during claims. 
> 
> I truly hope y'all enjoy it! I apologize but this is not beta'd. Any mistakes are mine. Feel free to point them out and I will correct them.
> 
> You can find the artwork [here](https://missmistiblurryface.tumblr.com/post/645493352419213312/my-art-for-the-deancasreversebang-so-excited-for).

The Uber jostles the passengers inside as it slowly rolls up the dirt driveway to the large farmhouse. Meg and Cas have already checked into their hotel and dropped their luggage off and they are now arriving at the Winchester Ranch for the first time to meet their subjects for this new piece they are preparing for the American Pterosaur Breeders Association Journal. 

It’s a warm afternoon in Kansas and Cas revels in the warmth as he steps out of the car. Meg handles tipping the driver on her phone using her work account and then joins Cas on the trek up the drive and to the front porch of the house. The exterior is worn but well cared for. The house is sporting a coat of cream paint and light blue shutters. The boards on the porch have clearly been replaced recently and have yet to be stained and sealed. 

Meg takes long strides up to the door, making it there before Cas despite his legs being longer than hers, and raps on the screen door to alert the inhabitants of the house to their presence. After a few moments, the door swings open to reveal a tall man with long brown hair and a kind face. He grins when he sees them.

“I’m Sam Winchester, you must be Meg and Castiel,” he says, offering a handshake to each of them, “Please come in. We’ve been expecting you.”

The pair follow the large man into the house and Cas takes in the interior, trying to suss out details about the people who live here that may be useful in his writing. It’s practically a habit by now to do so as Cas has been writing for so many years. Silent observation is a skill he picked up in his undergrad at Texas A&M when he was working on The Battalion. It’s a skill that’s served him well, lending an extra bit of insight for his readers into his subjects. Describing the warmth of a family home tends to endear the reader to whomever it is Cas is writing about. Alternatively, describing the bleakness of an environment may cause his readers to like the subject less. In this case, the story is meant to be positive and heartwarming, so Cas is picking up on and cataloguing details of the home that he can use to this end. 

Meg and Cas follow Sam into a large living room. The furniture is worn but clearly cared for. Family photographs and an assortment of news articles and awards related to the Pteranodon breeding business the Winchesters own cover the walls and available surfaces. 

Sam gestures for them to sit on the sofa and they follow his instructions and take a seat. Sam sits in a large armchair across from them.

“Dean will be back soon,” Sam says, “He’s just finishing up with some of the outside work. My wife, Eileen, is out grocery shopping and she should be back soon as well. Until then, is there anything you guys wanted to discuss?”

Cas nods and pulls a well worn notebook out of the leather messenger bag he’s carrying. “I was wondering if you could tell me about how your family got into the pterosaur breeding business.”

Sam smiles and scratches the back of his neck, “Well, to be completely honest, the interest was always more Dean’s than it was mine. After our parents bought this place, our dad got a few pteranodons, just as a hobby sort of thing. Dean and I grew up around them but it didn’t really become a family business until Dad died and Dean and I inherited the property. After that, Dean used some of the money he’d inherited to start the breeding program and I decided to put my inheritance into it as well since I already had a stable income from the law practice and I wanted to see Dean be successful. I technically own half of the business but Dean is the one who really runs it. I only manage the financial side of things.”

Cas nods along and jots down some notes while Sam is speaking. 

“Now, just to be clear,” Cas says, “what purposes do you breed your pterosaurs for?”

“Well, Dean can give you the finer details on this, but mainly for racing. We do, however, have some customers who purchase our pterosaurs for showing.”

As Sam finished speaking, the front door to the house opened and the sound of someone loudly kicking off a pair of boots drifted into the living room from the main hallway of the house. 

Sam smiles, “That’ll be Dean.” 

Not long after Sam says this, a man slightly shorter than Sam and certainly more weather beaten walks into the room. His looks immediately appeal to Cas. He has short, sandy brown hair, bright green eyes, and more freckles than Cas could possibly count. He’s clearly spent most of the day outside as evidenced by the dirt staining his jeans and his hands. 

“Dean,” Sam says, “this is Castiel Krushnic and Meg Masters from the American Pterosaur Breeders Association Journal.”

“Hey,” Dean says, lightly scratching the back of his neck, “I apologize for my appearance. I totally forgot y’all were coming today.” Dean’s Kansas accent is clearly thicker than Sam’s and something about the slow manner of speech appeals to some of Cas’ baser instincts. He could easily imagine waking up to a sleep deep version of this voice whispering ‘Good morning’, but he won’t because that would be completely unprofessional. 

Sam shakes his head in fond amusement at his brother. “Sit down, Dean. Eileen’s out grocery shopping and we only have Castiel and Meg for a few hours.”

“I dunno, Sam, I might need to shower first.”

Sam rolls his eyes before turning to look at Meg and Cas, “Is it alright if we continue while Dean showers?”

Meg grins and leans back against the sofa, “Fine by me. Although I’d like to eventually get a photo of Dean while he’s all grimy from working. Would be good for the piece.”

Cas nods, “I’m fine to continue while Dean showers.”

Dean seems to take that as permission and promptly strides out of the room. The sound of footsteps going up stairs can be heard, followed by the rattling of pipes as the water is turned on. 

Sam grins sheepishly, “I apologize for Dean. He’s not usually very chipper right after finishing work, but I swear he can be really charming when he wants to be.”

Meg smirks, “Oh, I’m sure.”

The trio continue their discussion about the origins and dealings of the business as they wait for Dean to return. It’s only fifteen minutes before Dean comes back into the room, freshly showered and in a new set of clothes. He sits down in another armchair by the window, leaning back and spreading his legs rather obnoxiously.

After Sam finishes answering Cas’ most recent question, Castiel turns to Dean, “So, Dean, from what Sam has told me, I gather that you’re the main proprietor of this ranch?”

Dean nods, “That’s right.”

“Can I ask, what do you find to be most rewarding about this business?”

Dean chuckles, “You mean apart from the money? Honestly, it’s getting to be around my favorite creatures in the world day in and day out. I could certainly do without dealing with our customers, and I’m thankful that I don’t have to do that daily. Sam is much better at the business side of things anyways.”

“And you haven’t acquired any education beyond high school?”

Dean frowns and his shoulders tense, “No, I took a job as a mechanic right out of high school. Someone needed to save up the money to send Sammy to school. Besides, a college education isn’t everything, you know.”

Cas frowns thoughtfully and taps his pen against his bottom lip. It seems that Dean is rather defensive about his education, or lack thereof. Perhaps Cas should avoid that topic from now on. 

Sensing he needed to change the topic, Cas asks, “Do you have any plans or goals for the future of your breeding enterprise?”

“I’d like to expand more. Get some more land and maybe start up a training business in addition to the breeding. I trained Baby, my pteranodon, myself and she does pretty well at races and shows. Didn’t need an education or the money for a fancy trainer to manage that.”

Cas hums in thought, making some notes. It seems Dean is going to continue feeling defensive around Cas. That may cause some difficulty with this project. 

Cas finishes up the interview quickly and, after Sam’s wife returns home, Meg takes a few pictures of the family in their living room and in front of the house. They make plans to return the next morning so that Meg and Cas can shadow Dean while he works with the pterosaurs. 

~

The next day, Meg and Cas arrive back at the Winchester Ranch in another Uber. This time they show up around 9am, when Sam indicated Dean’s workday began. Dean is mostly quiet throughout the day. Meg and Cas chat a bit as they watch him work, Cas jotting down notes on Dean’s processes and Meg snapping pictures as she sees opportunities. Dean mostly ignores them. He doesn’t really acknowledge their presence until he stops for lunch and invites them inside to have sandwiches and beers. 

Over lunch, Meg strikes up a conversation with Dean about the Led Zeppelin shirt he’s wearing. Cas, not knowing much about music, stays mostly quiet. Dean makes no effort to try to include Cas in the conversation and Meg knows Cas well enough to know that he’d have nothing to offer anyways and doesn’t bother trying to engage with him.

After lunch, things are a lot less stilted and quiet. Meg and Dean seem to get along rather well. They spend the rest of the day making jokes with one another and talking about their various interests beyond pterosaurs. Occasionally Cas will attempt to add to the conversation, when it shifts to a topic he’s at least somewhat knowledgeable about. However, Dean does not seem too eager to talk to Cas and, on the whole, seems to prefer to pretend he’s not even there. 

Over the course of the day, there is very little regarding the general running of the ranch that Cas and Meg need explained to them by Dean. On the whole, it’s fairly similar to most of the pterosaur breeding facilities Cas and Meg have visited during their careers. They do intend to stay the rest of the week, and Cas fervently hopes that he’ll find something of note, something unique that sets Winchester Ranch apart from the rest, that he’ll be able to include in the article. 

The next few days continue very similarly, with deviation only occurring when Meg decides on the third day that she’d rather stay behind and go through the material she’s already collected than to tag along with Cas. Without Meg present as a buffer and a distraction, Dean grows increasingly hostile around Cas.

The tension grows between them and eventually snaps when Cas asks Dean to elaborate on the physical prowess of the pteranodons at Winchester Ranch. Dean, who was in the process of cleaning and monitoring the fish tanks that he keeps stocked with live fish to feed to the pteranodons, throws down the net he was using to clean the tank and violently turns on Cas. 

“What the fuck is your problem?” Dean asks. 

Cas, startled at the sudden outburst, replies, “I have no problem. You, however, seem rather agitated and without any reason that I can surmise.” 

“Oh, without any reason that you can surmise, huh?” Dean says, mockingly, “How about the fact that you obviously have some prejudice against me because I don’t have a fancy college degree and I worked my ass off to get where I am without having daddy hand everything to me?”

Cas tilts his in confusion, “I do not perceive you that way, Dean. I’m not sure what I’ve done to cause you to think that way, but I assure you that it is not how I feel towards you.” 

“Listen, man, you may not be wearing a suit and tie but I can still recognize someone from money when I see them. Those Wranglers you’re wearing aren’t creased or worn at all and your boots have far too few scuffs for you to have ever done any real work. I bet if I were to look at your hands they’d be completely without calluses. People like you have always looked down on people like me.” 

Cas, beginning to grow angry, steps aggressively towards Dean.

“If you must know, yes, I did come from a wealthy family. But I haven’t had any contact with them or their money in twenty years. I was disowned when I was a sophomore in high school for being queer. I was homeless and I worked my ass off to make good grades so that I could get scholarships  _ and  _ to make sure that I could stay fed. Just like you, Dean, I have experienced hardships and I have had to work to get to where I am today. And yes, maybe I don’t have a physically laborious job like you do, but that doesn’t mean my job is any less difficult or any less worthy of recognition. Perhaps, Dean,  _ you _ are the one who is prejudiced.” 

Cas turns away and leaves, too keyed up to spend any more time around Dean. 

~

Later, when Sam and Eileen come home, Dean is still mulling over what Cas said to him. It’s not until dinner that Dean decides to bring up what happened with Sam and Eileen.

“How did things go today?” asks Sam.

Dean takes a large gulp of his beer, “I got into a fight with Cas.”

“Nothing physical, I hope?” asks Eileen. 

“Nah, nothing like that. Just a pretty heated argument.” 

“What’d you do?” ask Sam.

“Nothing! Why do you assume that I was the one to start it?”

Sam just raises his eyebrows at Dean, seemingly nonplussed. Dean sighs and runs his hands through his hair. He realizes there’s no convincing Sam that this wasn’t his fault. 

“I called him out on his bullshit,” Dean says, as if it explains anything. 

“What bullshit, Dean? Cas is a great guy, from what I can tell.”

“He thinks he’s better than me because he went to college.”

Sam, seeming concerned, asks, “What did he do to make you think that?”

“He asked about my educational background and-I know that’s pretty standard-but it was the way he asked it! And he’s always cleaned up and presentable, as if he’s trying to show off that he’s better than me or something.”

“You realize you’re being completely ridiculous, don’t you?” says Eileen.

“I’m not being ridiculous!”

“You kind of are, Dean.”

Dean starts to get frustrated with Sam and Eileen. He knows that they mean well, but they’re supposed to be on his side in this whole thing. They’re  _ his _ family. They barely know Cas, damn it. 

“You just don’t get it, Sam. You have an education and a cushy indoor job.” Dean stands up and storms out of the room. Sam can hear Dean’s bedroom door slam shut upstairs. Sam and Eileen share a concerned look over the table. 


	2. Chapter 2

Dean looks out the window when he hears a car coming up the drive to the house. 

“Sam! Who the hell is here? Are you expecting someone?” 

Sam looks over from the table where he’s reading while Dean works on making burgers. 

“Yeah, I invited Meg and Castiel to dinner,” Sam says, nonchalantly turning back to his reading. 

“What?!” Dean exclaims, “Why would you do that?”

Sam looks confused, “I thought it would be a nice thing to do. Why are you so bothered by this?”

“I just, uh, would have liked a heads up is all. In case I needed to make more food.”

Sam seems understanding of this answer and nods, “Yeah, I’m sorry, Dean. I should’ve told you.”

Dean continues cooking while Eileen shows their guests in.

~

Soon enough, everyone is settled around the dining room table with plates full of crispy, handmade french fries with cajun seasoning and succulent burgers topped with caramelized onions, avocado slices, chipotle mayo, and brie. Sam, of course, insisted on a salad being included, but Dean is just pretending it’s not there at all. It doesn’t escape his notice that Cas seems to also have a distaste for leaves as food. Despite the tension boiling between the two of them, Dean and Cas both tuck into their food eagerly.

Once the meal is finished Cas speaks up, “This was very good, Dean. I appreciate you cooking for us.”

Dean, at a loss for words, just grunts and nods in Cas’ general direction, much to Sam’s disdain. Once Meg and Cas have left, Sam turns on Dean in a fit of fury. 

“Dean, what the hell was all that?! You didn’t say a single word to Castiel for that entire meal! Even when he complimented your cooking! Do you get how rude that is?”

Dean nervously rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah well things are a bit rough between the two of us and I’m having trouble coming up with shit to say to him now.”

Sam narrows his eyes in judgement, “What the fuck did you do this time, Dean?”   
Dean splutters defensively, “What do you mean what did I do?! Why aren’t you asking what Cas did?”

Sam levels a stare at Dean, “Because I know you, Dean. And Cas seems like a reasonably nice guy. I can’t imagine him doing anything to sabotage this since it’s his job.”

Dean sighs and scrubs a hand across his face.

“Yeah okay. I might have gone off on him a bit earlier. Tried calling him out on his bullshit.”

“What bullshit?”

“Well, apparently there is no bullshit and I just misjudged.”

Sam sighs, “Damn it, Dean.”

“Yeah I know. I fucked up,” Dean admits. 

“You need to apologize.”

“Do I really though?”

“Yeah, Dean, you do. It’s the right thing to do.” 

Dean sighs, “Fuck. Fine. I’ll do it when I see him tomorrow.”

Sam nods, “Good. That’s good.”

“Yeah yeah,” Dean says, “I’m going to bed. Night, Sammy.”

“Goodnight, Dean.”

Dean ruffles his brother’s hair on the way out of the room and Sam splutters furiously.


	3. Chapter 3

“So Meg and Castiel are coming today?” Sam asked Dean when he stepped into the kitchen for breakfast. He couldn’t even wait until Dean had gotten some coffee.

“Yeah they want to get pictures of all of us out with the pteranodons. Since you and EIleen work during the week, this is the day to do it, it seems.”

Sam sits next to him at the breakfast bar, “Are you going to apologize to, Castiel?” He raises an eyebrow as if to imply Dean wouldn’t do it. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do it.” 

Sam eyed Dean suspiciously for the rest of breakfast. 

~

It’s nearly 11 am by the time Meg and Cas make it to the ranch. The sun is high enough in the sky now for Meg to get some good shots in. Castiel is, understandably, reluctant to go to work today but it’s not like he has much of a choice. 

After the argument with Dean, Castiel went straight to Meg to rant. As his best friend, she’s heard many such rants before. Luckily for Dean, she was able to calm Cas down before he did anything rash. 

When they show up to the house, Sam directs them to the barn, which is really more of an industrial warehouse designed to house pteranodons, where Dean is currently ensuring all of the pteranodons have been fed. After finding Dean in the barn, Meg immediately begins setting up her camera equipment. Dean takes his opportunity to approach Cas while Meg is distracted. 

“Hey, Cas?” Dean greets, “Can I talk to ya for a sec?” He rubs the back of his neck nervously.

Castiel simply raises an eyebrow, looking every bit as unamused as he feels. Still, he gestures with his hands, signalling for Dean to begin speaking. 

Dean sighs, “Look, man. I’m really sorry about all of that shit I said. It was really unfair of me to jump to conclusions about you and what you might be thinking. Could we, uh, start over?”

Cas is silent for a few moments as he contemplates Dean’s apology. It truly seems to be genuine and Cas is reluctant to turn himself into the bad guy by rejecting Dean’s attempt at reconciliation. Finally, he nods.

Dean breathes a sigh of relief, a broad grin stretching across his face. “Awesome, man. Well, you ready to get the day started?” 

~

The day progresses smoothly from there. Dean takes Cas and Meg around to meet all of the pteranodons on the property. Cas takes diligent notes about every pterosaur they meet and Meg takes pictures of Dean and several of the pteranodons. Eventually, she requests to take a group photo of Dean, Eileen, and Sam with one of the Winchester’s personal pteranodons. 

Eileen and Sam come out to meet the trio and they walk over to Baby’s nest. Baby is Dean’s pteranodon, which he eagerly tells their guests. He goes on to tell Meg and Cas about how Baby is a descendent of the late John Winchester’s pteranodon, Impala. Baby comes over to greet Dean when she sees him and he’s eager to say hello to her. Dean doesn’t shy away from Baby, despite her impressive wingspan of 12 ft, and he gladly tosses a fish to her, which she eagerly accepts. Once Dean and Baby complete their greeting rituals, Meg has the three Winchesters pose beside the large creature, while using a fish to hold Baby’s attention long enough to snap a few photos. 

While Meg is busy working, Cas is jotting down detailed notes about Dean’s interaction with Baby. It’s rare that Cas sees a breeder so personally invested in the animals they work with. It’ll certainly help the article he writes about Dean stand out appealingly. While watching Dean with Baby, Cas finds, surprisingly enough, that he’s begun to feel endeared towards Dean, despite the hurt that he had previously caused him. He’s kind and gentle with the pteranodon and it affords Cas the opportunity to see a completely different side to the older Winchester brother. 

Once Meg finishes photographing the family, Sam and Eileen invite her and Cas back up to the house for a drink. Meg eagerly accepts, but Cas declines as he finds himself desiring more time with Dean and Baby. 

Dean is cooing softly to Baby when Cas approaches. 

“She’s a very beautiful creature,” Cas says.

Dean turns to Cas with a large grin on his face, “She really is. I’m glad you can recognize it.”

“Would she let me touch her?”

Something in Dean’s eyes softens, “Yeah she’s pretty gentle. Go ahead.”

Slowly, so as not to accidentally spook her, Cas reaches out and rests his hand on the side of her long neck. Her skin feels like soft, worn leather beneath his hand. 

Cas turns to Dean with a grin and something deep within Dean’s chest stutters. With the sun shining on his face, lighting up his blue eyes, Cas is beautiful. 

Dean swallows, “Would you, uh, like to go for a ride on her?”

Cas eyes widen, “Really? You’d take me up?”

Dean smiles, “Yeah, Cas, I would. You stay here while I go grab her saddle and then we can get going.” 

When Dean returns with the saddle, Cas is stroking Baby’s neck and speaking softly to her in what sounds like Russian. 

“I didn’t know you spoke Russian,” Dean says as he straps the saddle on Baby’s back. 

Cas nods slowly, a heavy look crossing his face, “My parents are from Russia originally. I’m the only one of my siblings to be born in America.”

Dean’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead as he finishes with the last cinch, “Wow. Have you ever been to Russia?”

“A few times to visit family, but I’m not very fond of it. However, my parents insisted that we only speak Russian in the home, so I grew up speaking it despite my distaste for the country.”

“Hm. Well, Baby’s all ready to go if you are.”

The brightness Dean had observed in Cas returns suddenly with the change in topic and he eagerly follows Dean’s instructions for mounting Baby. Dean mounts behind Cas and instructs him to hold onto the front of her saddle. 

Once he’s insured Cas is holding on tight enough, Dean picks up the reins and directs Baby to take off with an ease that could only come from years of riding pterosaurs. The large creature seamlessly begins her flight and Dean directs her effortlessly. Due to the rushing of the wind past them, Dean and Cas can’t speak to one another but Dean finds that he doesn’t mind. Oddly enough, he’s content with the silence and Cas is warm between his arms. Dean, almost without realizing it, begins to imagine that he’s taking Cas out on Baby for their first date as opposed to Cas being with him solely because of his job. 

The next hour passes by peacefully. The flight eventually ends when the trio circle back around to the ranch and Dean directs Baby to make a landing. Cas assists Dean with putting away both Baby and her equipment. They manage to work in comfortable silence with smiles traded between the two men. 

Eventually, before leaving, Cas turns to Dean, “Thank you for today. I really had a good time and it was nice to meet Baby. She’s really wonderful.”

Dean shoots a pleased grin at Cas, “I’m glad you enjoyed it Cas. I’d be glad to take you back up anytime.”

~

That night, in their hotel room, Cas tells Meg all about what transpired between him and Dean that afternoon. With her assistance, he begins untangling the confused thoughts surrounding his feelings towards Dean. Meg, ever the dog with a bone, proceeds to do her damndest to convince Cas to ask Dean on a date before they have to leave to go back to work. Even after Cas initially rejects the idea, she brings it up continuously for the last two days of their visit. 

Their final days with the Winchesters pass by rather uneventfully. Cas’ mind is racing with ideas for his article on the brothers and, though he is loath to admit it, thoughts of Dean. Cas never does follow Meg's advice to ask Dean on a date, though he does leave a note to Dean in the Winchester’s mailbox the morning he and Meg are scheduled to leave. 

Meg and Castiel are already back in Boston by the time Dean finds and reads the letter. 

~

Dear Dean,

I know I won’t have another chance to see you before I leave, but I need to put some of my thoughts down on paper at the very least so that I don’t end up going insane. Despite the rocky start to our relationship, I’ve grown rather fond of you in the past few days. It is clear to me that you are a wonderful brother and a devoted pterosaur breeder. Despite your tendency to jump to conclusions, you truly do have a good heart. I was impressed by your ability to apologize for your mistake despite your appearance of being a rather proud man.

After having known you for these few days, Dean, it occurred to me that I am romantically attracted to you. I understand that nothing can ever come of this due to the distance between us, should you even reciprocate my feelings. That’s why I chose to put my thoughts down onto paper as opposed to approaching you about it in person. I needed to let you know so that I can begin the process of ridding myself of these feelings.

Regardless, I would love to remain friendly with you. I’ve included my card with this letter so that you would know how to reach me should you choose to do so. It would be wonderful to hear from you sometime, Dean.

Your friend,  
Castiel Krushnic


	4. Chapter 4

Dean sits on the front porch contemplating the note from Cas for so long that he loses track of time. Eventually, Sam comes in search of him. When he asks Dean what’s wrong, Dean just silently hands the note over to Sam and lets him read it. Once he’s finished, Sam sits down beside his brother and studies him for a moment before speaking.

“What are you thinking about this, Dean?”

Dean sighs, “I don’t know.”

Sam shakes his head, “There’s no way you’ve sat here for three hours thinking about it only to not know what you think about it.”

“Okay fine, Sam, I’m frustrated. I wish he would have just talked to me instead of just writing me a letter and leaving. I mean, we could have at least tried, you know?” 

Sam sits quietly for a moment, considering. 

“You could always go after him.”

Dean’s head snaps towards Sam.

“What the hell are you on about, Sammy?”

“You could go to Boston and talk it out with him. In his letter he said that he was unsure that you would even be interested in him. Go tell him how you feel. What do you have to lose?”

Dean shakes his head, “I’ll think about it.”

~ 

Dean thought about it and, as crazy as it is, he decided to take Sam’s advice. (It may have taken a pretty aggressive pep talk from Dean’s best friend, Charlie, but he got there in the end.) 

While Dean would have preferred to take Baby to Boston, he didn’t trust any of the boarding facilities in the area and wasn’t willing to risk it. In the end, he decided that driving would take too long and ended up getting hopelessly drunk prior to the flight that Sammy booked for him to Boston. 

Dean was a total wreck by the time his flight landed in Massachusetts and decided that going to see Cas in this state was probably not a great idea. So instead he got a motel room in the city and slept off all of the alcohol he had consumed on the plane over. By the time late afternoon the following day came around, Dean’s hangover was pretty much gone. On a whim he decided to go grocery shopping to buy the ingredients for his burgers, since he remembered Cas liking them a lot. 

It wasn’t until Dean was standing at Cas’ door that he realized that he probably should have called ahead. Unfortunately, the door was swinging open and Cas was staring at Dean in shock, completely oblivious to Dean’s internal panic. 

“Dean. What are you doing here?”

“Uh, hey, Cas. I, uh, brought burger ingredients. You’re not, um, busy are you?” Dean stutters out, raising the grocery bags to show Cas.

Cas, still in a state of shock, stands aside to let Dean in. He shows Dean to the kitchen and observes as he begins cooking. 

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Cas notes. 

Dean sighs, “Yeah. I, uh, came here to talk to you ‘bout somethin’, Cas.”

Cas straightens from where he’d been leaning against the counter.

“Oh? What about?”

“I wanna try with you, Cas.”

Cas tilts his head in confusion, “Try what?”

“Dating, Cas. I want to date you.”

Cas pauses in surprise. 

“Dean, in case you haven’t noticed, we live in two completely different states,” Cas eventually says.

Dean turns to Cas, “I know that, Cas, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t at least try.” 

Cas considers Dean for a moment, “Alright. You did come all this way after all. The least I could do is give you a shot.”

Dean barks out a laugh and the discussion ends there. They sit in comfortable silence until Dean finishes cooking. The rest of the evening is filled with laughter and earnest conversation shared between the two men. 

To both parties involved, it feels like the start of something truly wonderful.


	5. Two years later...

“Hey, Cas! Babe!” Dean calls out into the house from where he stands in the kitchen, “Is the spare room ready for Emma to stay in?”

Cas enters into the room, “Yes, Dean. Everything’s okay. You can go get your niece now.” He shoots his husband an indulgent grin.

Dean is a very overprotective uncle. Cas finds that this quality endears his husband to him further. It leaves him excited to see what Dean will be like as a father to their own children, though it will be some time before the pair of husbands are ready to take that step.

“Alright,” Dean says, leaving a kiss on Cas’ cheek, “I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. Should I do anything to get ready for dinner or do you have that handled?”

Dean pauses and turns, “Stay out of the kitchen, Cas. I’d like to have a house to come back to.”

“Fine. Fine,” Cas says, rolling his eyes, “I just thought I’d offer.” 

Dean shakes his head with a fond grin and heads out to go pick up his niece so that Sam and Eileen can have “date night”. Dean can’t wait until Emma has a little cousin that he can pawn off on Sammy.


End file.
